Blue Plague (Book 7): Hope Read online

  BLUE PLAGUE

  HOPE

  BOOK 7

  THOMAS A WATSON

  Copyright © NOVEMBER 15, 2016

  THOMAS A WATSON

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Credits

  Edited by

  Sabrina Jean at Fast Tracking Editing

  Cover Art

  Christian Bentulan

  This book is a work of fiction. People places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

  This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the written consent of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Thank you for acknowledging the hard work of this author. If you didn’t purchase this book or it wasn’t purchased for you, please go purchase your own copy now.

  Acknowledgment

  Hello and I want to give a thank you to everyone who has taken this journey with me. I could never have done this without you. To my great wife, Tina, thank you for the support you have given me.

  To my fans, when I start a book, I write down my general idea I want to convey, then the beginning and end. I have no idea how I’m going to get there but the end is done in all my books before I really get in them. This is how Blue Plague was always meant to end. I came up with it before Manny, Ellen and Casey ever made it out of the jungle. If you don’t believe me, ask Tina, she typed up my dictation outlining the story.

  I can truly say I’m going to miss Bruce and family, they were my first. Any wishes I had, it would be to start over and do it again but that wouldn’t be the story anymore. Of all the books I’ve written, this one will forever be endeared to me.

  I got the idea for the story talking to genetic researchers at LSU. When I outlined the main character Bruce, I wanted a story about a man facing massive odds who lost his values in life. Once the values were lost, could he remain human and fight to save others? He was the leader and no consequences if he ruled through violence.

  Not even I knew how we were going to get here. I only knew where we would end up and I may have written the story, but I didn’t see many things. When I write, I’m typing following a movie in my head and miss what I type and don’t really read it until I do my first read through. I can tell you, I laughed my ass off in many parts of Blue Plague.

  The only real change as many of you know was this started as a six book series but Survival would’ve been over half a million words, so Tina split it in half. I never saw Angela as a major part of this book until Tina’s input. In case you haven’t heard, I asked Tina if she knew she was going to die, would she pick out a wife for me? She said, ‘Hell yeah, I would pick out two just to keep you in line because you would drag some skanky whore around my babies’.

  After that speech (she said more but I took the highlights), I sat down and Angela took a more prominent role. If you ask me, Bruce got the raw end of that deal. The idea of two Tinas scares the hell out of me.

  The cast for Blue Plague is huge and I’m sorry but it’s the only way I could do a story that big, come on, they saved the world and didn’t have super powers. I really did try to keep it down and did cut out many characters. One I liked that was cut out was Kirk. He was a kid nerd that would’ve started in Sacrifice. That is why the dogs in the first book were cut out after the introduction, too many names.

  Going back, I counted sixteen characters that were cut and many more whose role was reduced. I’m sorry, I couldn’t just write about a few people when there were hundreds, then thousands, moving to tens of thousands depending on the main cast.

  Will there ever be more Blue Plague?

  As of now, I don’t know. I had an idea of ‘War Years’ when I wrote ‘Survival’ but haven’t nailed it down. Even if I do join up with Bruce and gang again, it will be a while. I have too many stories in the works now and these are flowing. One thing I’ve learned, don’t push a story or it sucks. Well, at least to me it does. Tina freaks out when she sees me cut out thirty thousand words just because I didn’t like how the story was moving. But anyway, it’s time for what many have been waiting for.

  Now without further ado, I present:

  Blue Plague: Hope. The last book in the Blue Plague series.

  Thank you and I hope you enjoy.

  Cast

  Bruce & Debbie Williams (kids) Steve, Jake, Danny and Buffy (from trailer park), Emily & Sherry (twins), and PJ (rescued from island) and Mindy (girl raped by bandits, married to David)

  Mike & Nancy (kids) Matt, twins Mary and David

  Tonya- Steve’s wife (Adopted Nathan, rescued from island)

  Pam- Tonya’s mother

  Stephanie (friend of family, Bruce’s wife, command group member)

  Angela (resident at hospital, Bruce’s wife, command group member) Child, Cade.

  Alex- (Angela’s dead husband)

  Paul (Command Group Member) & Cheryl (command group advisor)– Paul’s wife. Chad- son (adopted Alice and Robert from island)

  Millie (cook with spoon. Command group advisor)

  Conner (rescued from bandits, command group) & Susan (command group advisor)(aka Tarzan and Jane) was married to gimp, Susan’s kids- Cassandra (Mike’s adopted daughter), Joshua

  Jim- aka Gimp. Susan’s ex-husband.

  Carroll & Marcus Snead (Both Command Group) - Grandsons Darrell and Eric

  Carl Simmons (Ranger from Ft. Polk, Command Group) girlfriend Monica

  Ted Pope (Ranger from Ft. Polk, Command Group) girlfriend Melanie

  Joe Holiday (Machinist, Command Group Member)

  Harry (Machinist, Command Group Member)

  Marty (rescued from school on way home, has crush on Buffy.)

  Jacob- Marty’s dad

  Mack- Air Force Colonel- over fixed air wing (Command group advisor)

  Bill Thompson- (rescued police officer, command group. Adopted Frank, kid rescued from island)

  Father Thomas- rescued priest

  Sandy – (Stephanie’s friend from the CDC. Command group advisor)

  Maria and Lynn – (teachers rescued from school with kids)

  Willie- (rescued soldier, command group member) wife- Maggie, son Jason

  Henry Li- (sculptor and one who wanted Bruce to take time off)

  Jimmy- helicopter instructor over rotary wing. (command group advisor. Adopted Julie, Buffy’s friend)

  Chapter 1

  As the C-130 cargo plane leveled out, Bruce sat back in the canvas strap seat. Rubbing his thumb over the picture of Debbie with all the family on the back of his watch, he sighed then put the watch back on. Sitting beside him, Gene smiled at the picture. “She was some kind of woman,” Gene shouted over the engines.

  “One of a kind,” Bruce nodded leaning his head back. “Still don’t know what she saw in me.”

  Patting Bruce’s leg, “Don’t worry about that, just be glad she saw something,” Gene laughed at him.

  Grinning, “Yeah, you do have a point,” Bruce replied.

  Leaning his head over and looking at Bruce hard, “Don’t you even think about descending faster than us this time, troop,” Gene warned. “I will pull out my pistol and use it. I’ll try for your legs, but I’m not making promises.”

  “Huh,” Bruce snorted, “I want on the ground as soon as possible. Hanging in the air makes too good of a target.”

  “I really don’t give a shit,” Gene snapped. “You will stay with the group. When you dive down like a lawn dart, you get there minutes faster than us.”

  Closing his eyes but still grinning, “Not my fa
ult you’re slow,” Bruce chided.

  Pulling out his notebook, “Think the boys of ‘OZ’ can pull off what they claim?” Gene asked.

  “This, coming from someone who has witnessed firsthand how they can take over a base,” Bruce chuckled.

  Opening the notebook, “They had much longer to do it,” Gene said.

  Rolling his head over and opening his eyes, “If they can’t, it won’t be any fault of theirs. I still can’t believe how thoroughly they took over your base,” Bruce admitted.

  Looking up from his notebook, “I’m still trying to figure out how Jake made the cellphone work,” Gene admitted with a shrug.

  Leaning his head back and grabbing a headset to the plane’s internal communications, Bruce pulled down his helmet after putting the headset on. With the large ear muffs covering Bruce’s ears, the drone of the engines was felt more than heard as he closed his eyes. Glancing at Bruce, Gene grabbed a headset putting them on, and moved the microphone down to his mouth as he put his helmet back on.

  The chatter of the flight crew could be heard as Gene pressed the transmit key, “Pilot, this is Gene. Any word from the Pathfinders?”

  “Yes, sir, they just transmitted back to base. They are over Tennessee and on schedule with mild turbulence,” the pilot reported.

  “Any changes reported at the attack site?”

  “Still heavy cloud cover, sir,” the pilot said as Gene pulled out the map of the compound.

  As Gene looked at the map, a hand appeared in front of him and rested on the map. “You need to relax, Gene,” Bruce said over the intercom.

  Pushing Bruce’s hand off the map, “I’ll relax when this war is over,” Gene said sitting back, holding up the map. “You should remember. I like to make a dozen back-up plans.”

  Laughing over the intercom, “No shit, where do you think I got that from?” Bruce said glancing over.

  Raising his eyebrows and cutting his eyes at Bruce. “How many back-ups do you have in place?” Gene asked, lowering the map.

  “Seventeen,” Bruce said closing his eyes again.

  Putting the map down, “You’ve only told me five,” Gene said.

  Shaking his head, “Didn’t have time to go over all of them,” Bruce said, not opening his eyes. “The odds of me getting hurt, with Ted and Carl shoved up my ass, are pretty astronomical.”

  “Astronomical, but not impossible,” Gene pointed out. “Care to enlighten me how you plan on getting out of there if we can’t use choppers?”

  Lifting his head up, Bruce dug in his pants cargo pocket and pulled out a notepad. “We don’t,” he said handing over the pad. “If that happens, we will hunker down in the complex until the blues back off. Here are the outlines of my other plans.”

  Taking the notepad, Gene watched Bruce lay his head back, “You could act a little worried.”

  “Why?” Bruce said shifting his body around in the canvas seat, trying to get comfortable. “This isn’t my first rodeo against an entrenched enemy with blues everywhere.”

  Opening the notepad, Gene started reading. “I know, but it is for most of your troops here,” he pointed out.

  “No, most have seen combat like this assault, they just haven’t faced blues in waves,” Bruce replied. “Most troops that did, never lived to talk about it.”

  Impressed with the back-up plans, Gene continued reading as he asked, “You’re really not worried about the blues then?”

  “No.”

  Flipping through the notepad, “If you don’t mind, I’m going to worry about them,” Gene said.

  “Whatever makes you happy,” Bruce mumbled. “You should save your worry for better things. Unless the blues are hibernating under the snow at the drop zone, they shouldn’t pose any type of problem.”

  When Gene finished reading, he glanced over and saw Bruce asleep with his mouth hanging open. “That always pissed me off about you,” Gene said closing the notepad. “Most humans get jittery heading into combat. You go to sleep.”

  A tone sounded in Gene’s headset, “Pathfinders preparing to jump,” the pilot announced.

  Jerking awake, Bruce sat up. Stretching out his arms, Bruce yawned as Gene handed the notepad back. “Satisfied with my plans?” Bruce asked taking the pad and shoving it back in his cargo pocket.

  Nodding, “You get very elaborate with some of your plans,” Gene admitted.

  “Have to in this war,” Bruce said as the pilot spoke over the intercom.

  “Pathfinders jumping.”

  Glancing at Gene, “This is the one part of the plan I don’t like,” Bruce said pulling out a map, “Those six men alone on the ground, with back-up thirty minutes away.”

  “Unless they land on the ‘pile of blues’ you talked about, they should be fine,” Gene said as Bruce held up his hand.

  “Pilot, this is Bruce. Turn the radio to my headset.” Hearing the click, Bruce looked at his watch as the seconds ticked by. After three minutes of tension, relief flooded Bruce’s body.

  “This is Pathfinder One. Team on the ground, no sign of hostiles,” sounded through the headset.

  Keying his headset, “Pathfinder One, this is Big Daddy. What’s your location?” Bruce asked, as Gene looked over at the map in Bruce’s lap.

  “Missed our mark by six hundred yards to the north,” Pathfinder One answered giving his coordinates.

  “Shit,” Bruce mumbled looking at the map. “I was always happy if I landed within a mile of my insertion point.” Running his finger along the small valley that led to the complex a mile away, Bruce found the location of Pathfinder One. Using a grease pencil, Bruce marked the spot as he pressed the transmit key, “Pathfinder One, will we have any problems bringing the force in?”

  A hiss of static sounded on the headset, then Pathfinder One’s voice broke through. “Glide path must be north to south, trees are rather thick on the sides of the valley, sir. There’s a crosswind seven miles an hour east to west. Estimating four feet of snow on the ground.”

  “Roger that,” Bruce said, glancing over at Gene. “Tell the troops.” Gene got up to tell the troops as Bruce keyed his mic. “Pathfinder One, see you in twenty-five mikes.”

  “Roger. Pathfinder One, out.”

  “Pilot,” Bruce called out on the intercom. “Put me in touch with base.”

  Hearing several clicks in his headset, “This is base, Big Daddy,” he heard Mike call out.

  “Hey, Mike. Have the geeks taken over the compound?” Bruce asked.

  As Mike pressed the transmit key, Bruce heard Jake yelling in the background, “They’re not geeks!”

  “I guess you heard that, Bruce,” Mike chuckled. “But yes, they have it taken over. All monitors inside the compound are showing a video loop. All vaults are locked and codes changed.”

  Feeling the weight of the world leave his shoulders, Bruce sighed with relief. “Tell the boys to think of a cooler name and I’ll quit calling them geeks,” Bruce said. “You have visual of the Pathfinders?”

  “Watched them all the way down,” Mike called back. “The snow is from waist to chest deep, as you heard.”

  Groaning as he flopped back in the seat and pressing his transmit key, “Knew we should’ve found snowshoes.”

  “Brother, you wouldn’t have found that many sets of snowshoes in Louisiana,” Mike laughed at him.

  Dreading the upcoming trudge through the snow, Bruce pressed the mic, “What’s going on inside the compound?”

  It was a few seconds before Mike answered, “Everyone not on duty is bedded down. You have four scientists in a lab on the third floor and six in the lab on the fourth. One Homeland agent at the monitors and three soldiers with him, there are no changes to how they’ve been operating. The rest of the compound is asleep in their rooms.”

  As Mike talked, Bruce pulled out his map of the compound marking rooms that Mike called out. “Copy that, Mike,” he said.

  “Just to let you know, the choppers have launched,” Mike told him.

  C
losing his eyes as he pressed the mic, “You were supposed to wait until we took over the compound.”

  “Negative on that,” Mike shot back, “Didn’t want to leave you guys out there with your dicks in the wind for that long. We have enough tankers in the air to keep those birds fed.”

  Knowing there was nothing he could do, Bruce just folded his map up as Gene sat back down. “Copy, Mike. Talk to you when I get on the ground,” Bruce called back.

  “Bruce, I’ve been informed by two women here that you are to freefall with the team, and not speed to the earth like a lawn dart,” Mike told him.

  Glancing over at Gene as he pressed the mic, “I’ve been informed by my number two, if I tried that he was going to start popping caps at me.”

  “That’s a good man,” Mike called back. “Talk to you on the ground.”

  Hearing clicks in his headphones of the radio being turned off, Bruce shook his head at Gene. “Between you, my wives, and family, y’all are going to take all my fun away.”

  “Not my problem,” Gene said taking the map of the compound from Bruce. “They are still following their routine,” he said looking at the numbers.

  “Why the hell wouldn’t they?” Bruce asked. “Unless they have a crystal ball or a kick ass Ouija board, they have no way of knowing that fury is coming.”

  Folding the map and handing it back, “I’ve seen weirder things happen,” Gene said.

  “Yeah, like people turning into super-powered, evil-ass smurfs,” Bruce chuckled as a red light started blinking.

  “Ten minutes to drop,” a voice sounded over the plane.

  Shoving the map in his pocket, “Time to put up or shut up,” Bruce said standing up and running his hands over his equipment.

  Getting up and patting the gear strapped to his body, “The day you shut up, is the day the earth stops turning,” Gene mumbled.

  When the team was up, they walked down the line and called for checks. As each team member inspected the man in front of himself, Bruce and Gene moved to the ramp and checked each other. One by one, the members held up a hand as a voice sounded, “Two minutes.”